Flush panel construction



Jan. 17, 1961 J. YOUNG ET AL FLUSH PANEL CONSTRUCTION Original FiledNov. 10, 1954 ZZZ FIG. 3 O

FIGS

S m RGM oN TU. NO& W N M M N E B ATTORNEY United States Patent (3 FLUSHPANEL CONSTRUCTION Julius Young, 19328 Birwood, Detroit, and Benjamin W.

Colman, Berkley, Mich. (8616 Nadine Ave., Huntington Woods, Mich.)

1 Claim. '(Cl. 74-s04 This invention relates to flush panel constructionand more particularly to a construction in which knobs or handles orsimilar manually or digitally operated parts are employed.

This application is a continuation of Young et a1. Application SerialNo. 468,044 filed November 10, 1954, which issued in Patent No.2,841,031 on July 1, 1958, entitled Flush Panel Knob Construction.

The invention provides for a cons'ruction in which knobs or handles arenecessary components and are arranged to lie flush with the panelframing into which they are set for use. The knobs or handles aresurrounded by a recess panel that recedes under finger pressure into anopening or a recess chamber in the panel construction, against theresilient pressure of a spring or section of foam rubber or similarmeans, so that the fin ers may come into manual manipulating contact andcontrol of the knob or handle, as the case may be. When the fingers arewithdrawn from the knob or handle, the recess panel moves forward underthe pressure of the spring or other resilient means to assume itsinitial flush alignment with the outer panel in which it is located.

The invention provides a construction in which knobs or handles may beemployed that are flush with the panel in which they are used orrequired. Simple examples and applications in which the invention servesare television sets, radio sets, automobile dashboards, automobiledoors, electrical and gas household appliances of all types, furniturechests and cabinets, and a large host of equipment employing projectingknobs or handles or both.

Some of the problems generally incident to the use of projecting knobsor handles in a television or radio set or other appliances and devicesare the difiiculty and expense of protecting the device in packing andshipping, the high rate of damage to projecting knobs and handles intransit, storage and use, damage often done to clothing and the personby projecting knobs and handles, and the often unpleasing appearancemade by such projections in a beautiful piece of furniture.

At the present time, there is a positive need for improvements in theexterior appearance of various devices, for the reasons above given.These problems are constantly being confronted in the design ofappliances and devices, and the invention here disclosed provides apositive structural solution therefor.

The instant invention provides a flush panel construction that includesan opening or recess within which a knob or handle is located. The knobmay be movable in a rotative fashion, fixed, or otherwise manipulatable,and the handle may be fixed in place or operative in one manner oranother. The common feature in all of these arrangements is that aprotecting and finishing plate or panel about the digital end of theknob or handle is movable and shiftable into the opening or recess orrecess chamber of the outer panel, so that the knob or handle may begrasped by the fingers. Upon release of the fingers from the knob orhandle, the recess panel is urged means, such as a coiled helical springor a form of sponge rubber or the like, located within the opening orrecess and'bearing upon the recess panel.

Other features of construction will become more ap parent from thedescription given below. For a visual understanding of the invention,reference may be had to the accompanying drawings made an integral parthere= of, and in which I Fig. l is a front elevational view of an outerpanel in which flush handle and knob arrangementsar'e shown, This viewmay be'considered as severable for each of the arrangements shown.

, Figs. 2 and 3 are both vertical sectional views taken substantially onthe line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 showing the'r'ece'ss panel depressedinwardly of the recess chainber.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line4--4 of Fig. 2. p g

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 5--5of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 6-6of Fig. 5.

A basic flush handle construction is shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, inwhich a handle grip 70 is arranged flush with outer panel 10. A fingeropening 72 is provided behind grip 70 in recess chamber 12. A recesspanel 74, urged into flush alignment with outer panel 10 by spring 16,surrounds the digital end of handle grip 70. The panel 74 is providedwith an aperture 76 which conforms closely to the peripheralconfiguration of the handle grip 70 and about which it moves inwardly ofthe recess chamber. Protecting and finishing panel 74 is urged inwardlyby finger pressure until grip 70 may be grasped by the fingers. Uponrelease of handle grip 70, recess panel 74 assumes its initial flushalignment with outer panel 10. Althou h handle grip 70 is shown as anelongatedv grip, it is to be understood that it may take other formssuch as a round knob or an oval or irregularly shaped knob or fingergrip. Handle grip 70 is arranged in fixed form, being secured to therecess rear wall 22 by suitable means.

In Fig. 5, the flush panel construction comprises an outer panel 80having an opening in which is located a protecting and finishing panel82 which is movable inwardly of the panel 80. A knob 84, having arotatable movement, is mounted on a base (not shown). Panel 82 isshiftable against a spring 86 which is backed up against a flange 88 atthe proximal end of knob 84. The panel 82 is provided with an aperturewhich conforms closely to the peripheral configuration of the knob 84and bout which it moves inw rdly from the plane of the outer panel. Inthis construction, the panel 80 is not provided with a recess chamber asin the above described arrangement. The spring 86 is secured to theshiftable panel 82 and to the flange 88 by fasening means such as anadhesive, staples or other suitable means, staples 87 being shown inFigs. 5 and 6.

It will be observed that the panel recess chamber above described servesas a guide recess, or as a guide and spring operating recess, or as asupport for functional and operating parts or various combinations ofthese functions. I

In both of the constructions and arrangements here disclosed, the commonfeatures of construction include 7 an outer panel, an opening or recessin the outer panel in which is mounted, fixedly or movably, a digitallygripped part having its digital end arranged adjacent the plane of theouter panel, and a movable recess or protecting panel arranged aroundthe operating parts digital end shiftable inwardly of the opening orrecess, the re cess panel being urged into flush alignment with theouter panel by resilient means contained within the recess or opening.

It will be apparent that the protecting and finishing or recess panelsshown are merely illustrative of basic forms which they make take, theseforms being modifiable according to particular applications. The handlegrip 70 may not be completely cut through with a finger opening 72, butmay have merely upper and lower finger depressions. The outer panel 10has been shown as a single element for several of the forms of fingergripped operating parts as a simple means of illustrating the inventiveconstruction. It maybe reduced to individual or coupled units ofconstruction without departing from the essence of the invention. Therecess chamber 12 may be arranged for a single or multiple knobs and/0rhandles. Various other changes and variations within the skill of thosein the art to which the invention pertains are to be understood asencompassed within the invencontrol knob mounted for rotative movementon a shaft and having its digital end terminating in said opening in theplane of said outer panel and having a flange at its proximal endassociatedly conjoined thereto, a protecting and finishing panel movablymounted in said opening around said digital end and shiftable inwardlyto permit manual manipulation of said control knob, said protecting andfinishing pane] being provided with an aperture therethrough conformingto the peripheral configuration of said knob, and resilient meansbearing at one end on said knob flange and at its opposite end bearingon said protecting panel and urging said protecting panel toward flushalignment with said outer panel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,165,060 Krug July 4, 1939 2,842,010 Young et al. July 8, 1958 FOREIGNPATENTS 485,630 Great Britain May 23, 1938 "r il

